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RJver <br /> <br />Police Department <br /> <br />MEMORANDUM <br /> <br />TO: <br /> <br />FROM: <br /> <br />DATE: <br /> <br />Mayor and City Council <br /> <br />Assistant Chief Jeffrey A. Beahen <br /> <br />4-18-02 <br /> <br />SUBJECT: <br /> <br />Boulevard Warning Lights for New Facility <br /> <br />The building committee has received input from the Planning Commission and the Council <br />regarding the possible installation of emergency vehicles exiting warning lights. These lights <br />would be installed on the boulevard east and west of the fire/police driveways exiting out <br />onto Orono Parkway. <br /> <br />This is a very reasonable suggestion but there are several concerns associated with this <br />installation that we wish both groups to be informed about. <br /> <br />First, this is a very costly installation and at this point in time it does not appear to have the <br />traffic counts to merit those costs. The vehicle count on Orono Parkway is very low and it is <br />not anticipated to reach h/gh levels at any time in the near or distant future. <br /> <br />Second, the lights would have to be yellow caution lights - no red/stop lights are allowed by <br />law. Although this would alert drivers to approaching vehicles, it is no guarantee of safety <br />and in fact - might create a false sense of security for emergency vehicle operators leaving <br />the facility. <br /> <br />Third and most important, the signals have to be activated in some manner to indicate that a <br />vehicle(s) is leaving the lot and also that this vehicle is being operated in an emergency <br />mode. We would not activate the lights for normal non-emergency traffic exiting the facility. <br /> <br />This would require either a radio controlled switch or signaling device in every vehicle as <br />well as receiving and switching device on the signals themselves to activate the warning <br />lights. These installations are very expensive and difficult to maintain. <br /> <br /> <br />